Claiming His Secret Heir

The need to run out of the meeting and take her somewhere safe was making it impossible to concentrate.

“I know that you’re trying to remove me.” Stephan Degraff flipped his black Montblanc fountain pen in the other direction, oblivious to his daughter standing so close to him on the other side of the glass. That damn pen remained perfectly perpendicular to the edge of his pad, but was now facing the other way. “I understand that you don’t want me to have a role in Transparent. But you’ve taken my daughter. You won’t take my stake in the business.”

Damon hadn’t even processed that remark when the conference room door swished open. The click of her high heels had an authoritative sound as Caroline entered and made her way across the room.

Stunning every single person in the room.

Her hair was brushed to shining silk, a shade lighter than it had been just the day before. He hadn’t noticed that in the car on the drive over; he was too distracted thinking about the meeting. In fact, even her clothes were different from the things she’d worn earlier in the week. This was Caroline Degraff, executive in charge. Her stiletto pumps made her tower over the table. Her white fitted dress had been tailored to the leaner frame of her body.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” She kept her eyes on her father as she entered the room. “Damon hasn’t taken me, Dad.” She smiled warmly at him. The dutiful, perfect daughter, reunited with her lying bastard of a father.

Betrayal stabbed Damon.

Dad? That’s how she thought of the scum who had lied through his teeth about her disappearance? This was the same man responsible for keeping Damon from his son. Had she been lying to Damon all week? He could not imagine how she could still be loyal to this miserable excuse for a human being.

His brain couldn’t comprehend it. He watched her drop into the empty chair beside Stephan Degraff, who almost looked like he’d seen a ghost. Had he not expected to see Caroline? Or was he expecting to see a different version of his daughter, the weak and confused amnesiac he’d tried to manipulate for his own ends?

For once, Damon could identify with her smarmy father. He didn’t know what to believe, either, but he sure as hell understood what it meant that she no longer wore her wedding ring. She’d made sure the whole room would know where her real allegiance lay.

Bile burned his gut.

“Caroline.” Stephan Degraff gripped his pen harder, clearly trying to compose himself. “You’re here.”

“Of course.” She smiled that high-wattage grin that Damon remembered from the honeymoon photos. “Where else would I be? I’m all about protecting the family interests.” She passed him her pen, a Montblanc that matched her father’s except it was silver. “I’ve had the benefit of reading the agreement ahead of time, and the terms are very generous, especially considering how we know about the glitch in the launch product.”

There were more murmurs around the table. Was she talking about the security issue Damon’s hacker had found? The one she knew Damon had already patched?

He straightened in his seat, trying to follow whatever she was doing. Damon might not comprehend her motive, but one thing was certain. Having her father sign that paper benefited Damon.

Not Stephan.

And Caroline knew it better than anyone.

“McNeill, is that true?” a worried voice asked loudly over the fray. “Is the launch product flawed?”

That seemed to be the concern around the table for anyone who wasn’t a McNeill or a Degraff. They didn’t want to think their investment had gone belly-up because of a glitch.

Thankfully, Gabe responded for him while Damon watched the drama play out between Caroline and her father on the opposite side of the table. Stephan Degraff stared at her in wonder, like he’d recovered the most precious thing in the world to him.

To a certain extent, Damon could empathize. He hadn’t wanted to lose her, either. But he sure as hell wouldn’t kidnap or drug someone he cared about to force them into staying loyal to him. That wasn’t love. That was obsession.

“You really think I should sign, Caroline?” Stephan Degraff took the pen she’d given him, his hand poised over the contract.

For the first time since he’d entered the room, the bastard appeared confused. Conflicted. Something in his tone of voice revealed how much he wanted his daughter to be on side.

Damon held his breath.

He wanted Caroline on his side, too. And in that moment, he realized how much more important it was to win her than Transparent. He’d been battling so hard to keep his company when all along what he should have been fighting for was the woman herself.